In terms of the music degenerating, I agree. Like a poster said earlier in the thread, Youth Crew is the worst thing to happen to this style of music.

However, there is still some great contemporary stuff being released playing in the early-mid 80s vein and some of them are adding their own spin. I'm generally pretty enthusiastic about modern hardcore but it can be hard to sort through the bullshit.

I'm surprised at how good some of the newer HC bands are. I'm kind of out of the loop.

Someone mentioned Wiccans earlier in this thread. I downloaded the Field II LP and it's fucking killer. Will definitely pick that up. It's like raging hardcore meets Samhain. Right up my alley.

I've also been listening non-stop to the Rational Animals LP on mp3, waiting for the vinyl to arrive at my house. Mid-late period Black Flag worship at it's finest. One of the best imitations of Ginn's insane guitar style that I've heard._________________Evil Is As Evil Does...